Understanding Group Interaction

1. Understanding Group Interaction

2. What is a Group? • Multiple members • 2 or more people • perceive themselves as a group • Group rewards • Corresponding effects • Common goals

3. Psychological Needs Affiliation Identification Survival Needs Emotional support Assistance or help Commonality Common interests Common goals Situational Reasons Physical proximity Assignment Why People Join Groups

4. Factors Affecting Group Performance • Group Cohesiveness • Communication Structure • Group Roles • Presence of Others • Type of Task • Individual Dominance • Groupthink

5. Factors Affecting Group Cohesiveness • Group Homogeneity • Homogeneous • Heterogeneous • Slightly heterogeneous • Stability of Membership • Isolation • Outside Pressure • Group Size • Group Status

6. Group Homogeneity Research

7. Group Size • Smaller is best for cohesiveness • Performance depends on task type • additive tasks • conjunctive tasks • disjunctive tasks

8. Communication Structure • Chains • Centralized • Circles • Open

9. Group Roles • Task-Oriented • offering new ideas • coordinating activities • Maintenance-Oriented • encouraging cohesiveness • encouraging participation • Individual • blocking group activities • calling attention to oneself

10. Presence of Others • Social Facilitation and Inhibition • mere presence of others • comparison of performance • evaluation apprehension • Social Loafing • effort won’t be noticed • free-rider theory • sucker-effect theory

11. Individual Dominance • By the group leader • By a group member

12. Groupthink can occur when the group: • is cohesive • is insulated from outsiders • believes it is infallible • it is morally superior • is under pressure to conform • has a leader who promotes a favorite solution • has gatekeepers who keep information from members

13. Group versus Individual Performance • Groups • have higher quality decisions • are more risky • Individuals • are more creative • make a decision more quickly